Keeping the Carolyn Jane in storage at Port Stephens for the snapper season. Have never really targeted them in the past, but that was mainly because they weren’t as common as they are now. Up to Port on Tuesday night with all the snapper gear ready for the next day. First discovery, I left the boat keys at home, 2.5 hours away:
After an hour of panic, the lads at Bay Boats lent me a set of keys for all Mercury outboards in my class saying they would trust me. Absolute legends. Next morning, Drax and I headed east on a near perfect day – low swell, and no wind. It was so calm we decided to pass on snapper fishing, and head wide for kingfish:
First stop Cabbage Tree Island, to catch live bait. I attached a burley can to the downrigger and dropped it to six metres, in fourteen metres of water. Deadly technique! Look at the slimy mackerel, rising to the burley can:
A long run to our spot but when we got there it was more than worth the effort. I decided to stick with live baits while Drax tied on one of our 250 gram jigs. That was a top call:
The lad is recovering from surgery and made the wise decision to use an electric reel for jigging. Note that, when he hooked up, the reel was switched off and he fought the fish in the usual way. That kept him pretty busy:
The kings kept on coming with the jigs for Drax. This 80cm went in the esky:
I’m getting exhausted netting fish for the bloke, while my baits are untouched. Eventually I’m on. Would you believe a nannygai, which swam around Drax’s line, and then spun on retrieve – producing a huge twisty tangle?
Anyway, we had a great day and brought home some top quality fish – after letting some go, too. If you want to try our 250 gram jigs, please do. They’re deadly:
Back home this morning (Thursday) with one little stop on the way. Returning the keys to Bay Boats, with a token of our appreciation:
Thanks for reading
Andrew Hestelow